


claws x and x braids

by knittinglizards



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Airships, Hair Braiding, M/M, Post-Chairman Election Arc, but before the heaven's arena fight, cuddling kinda ??, prob could be rated gen but. hisoka is there, uhhh sharing a bed but like . for a second. and its not spicy, whhats better than this. just murderers bein dudes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 05:03:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13474254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knittinglizards/pseuds/knittinglizards
Summary: some friends (?) meet by chance on a flight from yorknew to padokea





	claws x and x braids

**Author's Note:**

> HI this has been a vague wip for Months but idk what else to do with it so !! here it is with a rushed title  
> idk if hisoka actually knew the time & place of the fight this far in advance or if airships are as much like hotels as i think they are but,, its fine. its. an au.
> 
> warning for nasty stuff illumi says wrt alluka ! its just one line and pretty mild but lines up w the dehumanizing stuff he & the other zoldycks say in canon

Hisoka lounges into the airship’s bar, a large room well-lit by the early afternoon light. The transcontinental flight had taken off at 2 in the morning and has several hours left still. A quick scan of the room reveals to him a familiar dark-haired figure sitting alone by a window. The magician hasn’t seen Illumi since ‘helping’ him try to kidnap his younger siblings several months ago. Hisoka, giddy with anticipation of messing with the assassin, stalks across the room.

Illumi smoothly turns to meet his gaze when he’s about 20 paces from the bar. He raises his glass a little in greeting, saying, “Hey.”

Hisoka warmly leers and slinks into the stool next to Illumi. The Zoldyck leans back slightly as he tries to tangle their feet together.

“What a _pleasant_ surprise,” Hisoka purrs. “Perhaps I should get in the habit of checking trip registries beforehand, think of all the fun we could already have had last night ♥.”

“I did. There was no one of interest on the ship,” Illumi says, gazing out the window dispassionately. Hisoka pouts a bit as his words land.

“Anyways,” Hisoka again tries to hook his feet around Illumi’s ankles and the assassin elegantly crosses his legs, “How’ve you been, then? Tried catching up with Killua again?”

Illumi’s eyebrow twitches at the mention of his brother. “Hardly. After that _thing_ sent me home, Father suggested that I let him wander for now. I’ve been keeping tabs on him between jobs, but only that.”

Hisoka hums in response. He turns in his stool, looking over the room again. The airship bar isn’t particularly full, but there are several others scattered around. No one that looks particularly interesting. He angles back toward Illumi and traces a hand up the assassin’s forearm. Illumi gives him annoyed look.

A minute or so after Hisoka sat down, Illumi takes a final sip from his glass (it _seems_ to be plain water?) and stands. “I’m leaving. Bye.”

Hisoka pouts. He’ll decide in a bit whether he wants to go looking for him again.

////

There’s about two hours left before the ship touches down in Padokea. About twenty minutes after Illumi left the bar, Hisoka had found his room and the two have been idly catching up for about half an hour.

Hisoka lounges on the bed, one bent leg leaning against Illumi. The assassin is sitting cross-legged near the edge of the bed and verbally sketching out how he might next try to separate Alluka from Killua.

Hisoka, listening but struck by an impulse to play with the other’s hair, sits up in the bed and scoots closer. Illumi pauses at his movement, but then continues describing his plan. Hisoka angles himself to be sitting a bit behind Illumi, his legs loosely around the assassin’s crossed ones. Hisoka hmms a content little sound and reaches for Illumi’s hair but pauses. With their current position it’d be awkward to avoid his pins, and Hisoka would hate to start a halfhearted fight. He lightly touches the hair near Illumi's left ear and says, “may I?” 

Illumi looks back at him. He hums in assent. Hisoka grins and takes a handful of hair in each hand, twirling it between his clawed fingers. Illumi is silent now, distracted from describing his plans. He had let Hisoka play with his hair several times before, and Hisoka got the feeling from his slightly relaxed aura each time that Illumi might enjoy the rare gentle touch. Hisoka liked having such a formidable fighter vulnerable in his hands.

Combing his fingers through Illumi’s smooth straight hair, he pulls it into three sections and begins to braid it into a long plait. Illumi stays quiet, only moving to yield his neck's position when Hisoka pulls too hard. 

Finished with the braid and bored with the silence, Hisoka says, "Have I already told you my news? Chrollo has agreed to fight me. In two weeks, at Heaven's Arena. It’s to be a fight to the death.” His voice trails off into a moan at the end, and his legs' small shudder bumps into Illumi’s sides.

Illumi looks behind him, leaning back on his hands to better face him. He pulls the braid around the side of his neck to rest on his chest. His eyebrows are almost imperceptibly twitched into what Hisoka recognizes as a frown. “You did tell me. It’s idiotic to fight him on his own terms.”

Hisoka shrugs and lies back on the bed again, his legs now curled around Illumi.  “Still, the chance to fight someone like him is…” Hisoka finishes his thought with an unnervingly modulated hum.

Illumi’s nose wrinkles. He removes Hisoka’s legs from around him and adjusts so his back is straight again. He’s silent for a moment and his gaze is focused on the wall; Hisoka’s about to say something but then the assassin says, “Well. I’m going to sleep until we land.  You can stay here if you wish.”

Hisoka’s resting grin turns several shades more lecherous. “Sharing a bed with a strange man? Oh my, what about your reputation?”

Illumi doesn’t respond aside from slowly blinking at the magician. He shifts so that he’s lying on the other side of the bed from Hisoka, and coils his braid up loosely under his neck. “Good night.”

After about twenty seconds of silently staring at the ceiling, Illumi closes his eyes and seems to be fast asleep. Hisoka glances at his sleeping face with something like affection, and crosses his legs. Spending the rest of the trip here could be about as entertaining as anything else on the airship. He dozes off and daydreams about fighting Illumi to the death.


End file.
